Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
The Yukon-focused company has signed an underwriting agreement with a syndicate led by Cormark Securities and Cantor Fitzgerald Canada to sell the shares.The company, which is awaiting a water permit for its Keno Hill project, has also given the underwriters an overallotment option for 30 days following closure that could take the total raised to $8.6 million.Alexco said it would use the proceeds...Read More
The lockdown starts at midnight Thursday, but businesses essential for the maintenance of power generation are exempt.South32 said it was working with government to determine the impact of the exemption on its South African Energy Coal and South African Aluminium divisions, given they play a role in Eskom's generation network.The company has started planning for its South African Manganese busines...Read More
"The underlying mining and cement industries remain sound but given the day-to-day development in markets around the world, we are currently unable to assess the extent of the impact," the company said."The activity level for the group at the beginning of 2020 was similar to 2019, and in addition we have booked three large mining orders with a combined value of around 2.4 billion Danish krone."We...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
Europe's third largest lead smelter Recylex will stop all lead production due to weak demand, the company said in an exchange release after market trading on Wednesday March 25."To adapt to the strong drop in demand, especially in the automotive industry, in a context of sharply lower metal prices, [Recylex subsidiary] Weser-Metall GmbH has decided to discontinue production from Thursday March 26,...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More
Spot market prices for standard-grade and alloy-grade cobalt stabilized on Wednesday March 25 after weakening downstream demand continued to provide pressure earlier in the week.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam held at $16.15-16.55 per lb midweek, unchanged from Tuesday March 24 and down from $16.30-16.70 per lb on March 20. Fastmarkets' assessment fo...Read More
The coronavirus, and the actions being taken by governments to stem its spread, can be found behind a remarkable split which has seen the South African government force the closure of its miningRead More
In recent days the Fed has made it plain that it is prepared TO BUY ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING to prevent imminent total collapse, and you don't have to join many dots to see that this will extend to BUYING STOCKS, and it's not that hard for them - all they have to do is enter a few keystrokes, add a few 0s and it's sorted - and as Gregory Mammarino repeatedly points out, the more debt they iss...Read More
Why is there such a huge gap between spot price and future price in gold/silver?1. Mines are closed or closing. There will be no new supplies.2. Global lockdown is preventing physical gold and silver to be transferred from one nation to another. 3. Lack of alternate safe investment avenue and availability of free money to fund managers and large corporates has resulted in shor...Read More
Europe's third largest lead smelter Recylex will stop all lead production due to weak demand, the company said in an exchange release after market trading on Wednesday March 25."To adapt to the strong drop in demand, especially in the automotive industry, in a context of sharply lower metal prices, [Recylex subsidiary] Weser-Metall GmbH has decided to discontinue production from Thursday March 26,...Read More
The global spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is seriously limiting deep-sea scrap trading in Turkey, with market players also struggling with mill closures, sources said on Wednesday March 25.A number of steel mills in Turkey have stopped or reduced production because of the pandemic. "I heard a steel mill in the Iskenderun region halted production and two steel mills in the Izmir region...Read More
Export prices for Japanese ferrous scrap continued to fall over the week to Wednesday March 25, but tighter supply offered some support to prices for Shindachi busheling, market sources have told Fastmarkets.Japanese scrap traders expected difficulties in procuring Shindachi material in the short term after carmaker Toyota closed several production lines for 3-9 days from Wednesday. And fellow car...Read More
Copper market participants should have been gathering in Santiago, Chile, for the annual CESCO dinner on Wednesday March 25. Instead, the country's mining industry was nervously eyeing the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pandemic, and its government was coming under increasing pressure to impose a lockdown similar to what India and South Africa have instituted.Chile has so far restrict...Read More
United States politicians agreed a $2-trillion stimulus package to support the US economy during the ongoing novel coronavirus (nCoV 2019) pandemic, and markets, especially equity markets, have reacted well.The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed up by 11.4% on Tuesday March 24, while Asian Pacific equity indices followed up that positive performance with gains of between 2.7% and 8% this m...Read More
Spot market prices for standard-grade and alloy-grade cobalt stabilized on Wednesday March 25 after weakening downstream demand continued to provide pressure earlier in the week.Fastmarkets' daily price assessment for cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam held at $16.15-16.55 per lb midweek, unchanged from Tuesday March 24 and down from $16.30-16.70 per lb on March 20. Fastmarkets' assessment fo...Read More
The Ministry of Transport & Communication in Zambia has recommended the all cross-border cargo shipments be suspended to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), according to a letter seen by Fastmarkets. In the letter, sent on Tuesday March 24, the permanent secretary of the country's transport authority, Misheck Lungu, suggests that the government suspend all cross-bo...Read More
Here are five Fastmarkets stories you might have missed on Wednesday March 25 that are worth another look.German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has announced that it will go ahead with a restructuring plan that will eliminate 3,000 jobs after reaching an agreement with the workers' trade union, it said on March 25.Falling demand, exacerbated by the novel coronavirus outbreak (2010-nCoV) further causing m...Read More